Doubts raised over when BBC chief knew of sex abuse claims

Matthew Purdy

LONDON: A legal letter sent on behalf of Mark Thompson, the former director-general of the BBC, raises questions about his assertions that he learnt of accusations of sexual abuse against long-time host Jimmy Savile only after leaving the top job.

In the letter, sent 10 days before Mr Thompson left the BBC in September, lawyers representing him and another executive threatened to sue The Sunday Times of London over contentions in an article it was preparing that they had been involved in killing a BBC investigation of Savile.

The revelation came as the former BBC Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis was arrested by detectives investigating allegations of historical sexual offences.

Mr Travis was held at his home in Bedfordshire by detectives from Operation Yewtree, the investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Savile and others.

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According to people who have reviewed the Thompson letter, it recounted that the proposed article in The Sunday Times Magazine would ''look at a number of allegations regarding the behaviour of the late television and radio presenter, specifically that he took advantage of a series of young women. Some of the alleged assaults took place on BBC premises''.

An aide to the former BBC chief said that although Mr Thompson had authorised the sending of the letter, he had not known the details of its contents.

Mr Thompson declined to comment. He began work this week as the president and chief executive of the New York Times Company and said in October that ''during my time as director-general of the BBC, I never heard any allegations or received any complaints about Jimmy Savile''.

The BBC has announced it will pay the former politician Alistair McAlpine £185,000 ($283,000) in damages for falsely implicating him in child sex abuse allegations.

Lord McAlpine, Conservative Party treasurer under Margaret Thatcher, responded: ''I am delighted to have reached a quick and early settlement with the BBC.

''We will now be continuing to seek settlements from other organisations that have published defamatory remarks and individuals who have used Twitter to defame me.''

Sally Bercow, the wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, was among the social media users who linked Lord McAlpine to the BBC report. She has apologised.

Sky News television reported that Mrs Bercow would be the first to receive a legal letter from Lord McAlpine's representatives.

Mrs Bercow reacted by taking to Twitter again. ''I guess I'd better get some legal advice then,'' she said. ''Still maintain was not a libellous tweet - just foolish.''

Mr Travis is the fourth person to be arrested after the former pop star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, the comedian Freddie Starr and the former BBC producer Wilfred De'Ath.

Mr Travis, nicknamed the Hairy Cornflake, worked with Savile at the BBC and has been one of the most recognisable faces in British broadcasting.

Last year, the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said his World Service music request show had helped her to get through more than two decades under house arrest. Mr Travis met her when she visited BBC studios during a visit to Britain in June.

There is no suggestion that any accusations of paedophilia have been made against him, although two women have alleged in recent weeks that he groped them in the 1970s. He strongly denied the allegations when they were made.